Hi- I have 11 skeins of vannas choice- I know I want to make a nice afghan or throw with it. I want to have as pretty a pattern as I can have, but also produce as large an item as I can (for my brother and sister in law, I envision it being used for the two of them watching TV at times, not just one of them) I have started learnign to crochet (while I think it will take me a while to be able to do the stitches (are they even called stitches) from memorey, as long as I have you tube and this site I think I can do it) so I am open to knit or crochet. If one uses up more yarn/st then I want to use the other. I am also curious to know; within knitting I assume things like cables use more yarn than a simple garter or stockinette pattern does. Do yo's and lace patterns consume more yarn also, or do they actually use less? Help me get the most from my yarn! PLEASE!

Hi- I have 11 skeins of vannas choice- I know I want to make a nice afghan or throw with it. I want to have as pretty a pattern as I can have, but also produce as large an item as I can (for my brother and sister in law, I envision it being used for the two of them watching TV at times, not just one of them) I have started learnign to crochet (while I think it will take me a while to be able to do the stitches (are they even called stitches) from memorey, as long as I have you tube and this site I think I can do it) so I am open to knit or crochet. If one uses up more yarn/st then I want to use the other. I am also curious to know; within knitting I assume things like cables use more yarn than a simple garter or stockinette pattern does. Do yo's and lace patterns consume more yarn also, or do they actually use less? Help me get the most from my yarn! PLEASE!

also- when starting your chain for a crochet project do you count the slip knot as 1?

Your slip knot will count as a chain once you make your second chain. Unlike you I have been crocheting for 48 years. There is only one stitch in crocheting that is comparible to knitting, but is usually not used a lot. Your knitting patterns will always take a lot more yarn, because it makes a lot thicker product. 11 normal skeins of yarn would make you a bigger afghan in knit. My husband wanted a crocheted snuggie, so he had his arms free and I am on my 5th pond of Caron yarn and still have 1/3 of one sleeve and the other whole sleeve to do.

Emily, I have found that knitting uses less yarn, but is slower than crocheting. I love to do both of them. It just depends on what I am making and how fast I want or need it finished. Here lately, I have been doing a lot of crocheting. Mostly with the bedspread weight thread. I do love it all! LOL

I was recently told by the owner of a local yarn shop that crocheting uses 3 times as much yarn as knitting, although it goes faster. So if you want to get the most "bang for your buck" I, too would stick with a simple knitting pattern. There are tons of them out there. Good luck. jb

I have taught knitting and crocheting. When making your beginning chain (as in ch 42) do NOT count the slip knot. At the other end, when you get to ch #42 it will even out because you NEVER use the chain that is on the hook for crocheting. So, if the pattern says, starting is 2nd ch from hook, make 42 sc, you will skip the chain with the hook and crochet in the very next chain.

Crocheting does take 3 x's more yarn. That's because, except for some specialty sts, crochet is a padded st and knitting isn't. By that I mean there is yarn inside a crochet st. Knitting is mostly flat.

Lace work uses less yarn because of the spaces. There is no way I could tell you how much less, though.

11 skeins of Vanna's Choice should knit into a full sized afghan, or pretty close. Go to Lion Brand Yarns for free afghan patterns. Vanna's Choice and Wool-Ease are interchangeable, as both are worsted weight.

Knit a 4x4 square of stockinette and crochet a 4x4 square of double crochet. Lay them side by side on a table. Get down at eye level and see how much thicker the crochet is than the knitting. That's why crocheting takes up so much more yarn than knitting.

I did an experiment to answer just that question. I made two childrens scarves out of the same yarn, and tryed to make them as equal as possible; each 36 inches long and 8 inches wide. I started each one with a new skein of yarn The knitted one was a straight garter stitch, and the crocheted one was one row single crochet, and the next double crochet. The crocheted one took less yarn, and went much faster. However, the knitted one was softer and thicker, and therefore warmer I think.

Yarn overs, and any changes in stitches take more yarn, and fancier stitches usually take more yarn.

Crochet definitely takes more yarn. No question about it. Eleven skeins of yarn, if they are 4-oz skeins, will make a wrap perhaps large enough for one to wrap him- or herself in. Two people? I'm not sure; it would depend on how large the people are, I suppose.

I don't count the slip knot, because the strain on it put on by the weight of the garment tends to 'untie' that stitch. If it says to ch 5, I ch 6, the join into a circle if the pattern so instructs. Then I give a stout yank to the 'tail,' making the slip knot draw up even tighter. If you don't do it that way, you run the risk of the slip knot coming untied by the weight of the garment.

I agree that crocheting uses more yarn (don't know if it's 3 times as much - that seems like a really huge disparity!). If you're knitting, garter stitch uses more yarn than stockinette but makes a denser, warmer fabric.